We respect your right to privacy; your medical records are held in the strictest confidence.
Information is not passed on without your consent unless it is within the confines of the NHS, by legal framework, or is in the public interest.
Certain anonymised patient data may be shared for the purposes of public health and audit, research, teaching and training.
This practice is registered under the Data Protection Act.
It is a practice and a legal requirement that all staff maintain confidentiality of patients’ records.
You have the right to know what information we hold about you and if you would like to see your records please contact the Practice Manager.
Your Information
The law determines how organisations can use the personal information they collect. The Laws that control this are:
- Data Protection Act 1998
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Health and Social Care Act 2012
Information Held
We collect personal, confidential information about you. This information may include (but is not limited to):
- Your name, address telephone number, date of birth and next of kin
- Appointment details, associated admissions
- Correspondence, notes and reports
- Investigations and test results
The practice uses this information for the following reasons:
- to help inform the decisions that we make about your care
- to ensure that your treatment is safe, including any advice that may be provided as part of your care
- to help us work effectively with other organisations who may also be involved in your care.
Information Sharing
Hope Family Medical Centre may share information held about you with other organisations to support:
Patient care (identifiable information):
- Provide continuity of care by sharing information with health professionals involved in your care
- Provide safe care by sharing your information with health professionals e.g. emergency departments and out of hours doctors
Planning and assurance (information in anonymised format which does not include information from the patient written notes):
- to help protect the general health of the public
- to manage and plan services for the future
- to review the quality of care provided by the practice
- to comply with a legal obligation
Organisations with which information is routinely shared with for the reasons set out above include but are not limited to:
For patient care:
- Local hospitals
- Emergency and out of hours services
- GP clusters
For planning and assurance:
- NHS Wales
- Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Opting Out
Patients have the right to opt out of allowing their personal information to be shared. If you wish to do this please speak to a member of the practice staff.
For detailed information about your rights and our responsibilities in respect of data protection, we have a number of information leaflets that are available in reception. Easy read format and other languages are available upon request.
Security of your Information
Hope Family Medical Centre have a range of security measures in place to ensure that your information is held and if necessary shared in a secure way.
Your patient record will only be accessed by practice staff who are authorised to do so.
If you have any concerns about the way we handle your information, please speak to a member of the practice staff.
Written consent for the disclosure of notes for solicitors or insurance firms is required from the patient before any information is released. (see Access to Medical Records)
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the Practice to produce a Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the classes of information the Practice intends to routinely make available. To access the publication scheme please click here.
